This invention relates to an emission computed tomograph.
Emission computed tomography commonly referred to as ECT is a technique for obtaining an image of the distribution of radioactivity of radioisotope within a desired plane perpendicular to the axis of the body of a patient being examined by administering to the patient a pharmaceutical compound labelled with the radioisotope, detecting from outside the body the radiation such as X-rays or gamma (.gamma.) radiation emitted by the isotope that has been accumulated in a region or organ of the patient's body, and processing the detected data by an electronic computer.
In one known type of emission computed tomograph, scanning is conducted by rotating one or two Anger type detectors about the patient to be examined. In another type, the detector is adapted to traverse linearly across the patient, each tranverse being shifted a small angle from the previous one so as to cover the 360.degree. region about the patient. With these arrangements, however, it is difficult to shorten the time required for obtaining all necessary data for reconstructing a tomographic image of the organ being examined.
Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide an emission computed tomograph which is simple in construction with a relatively small number of movable component parts and therefore is reliable in operation.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an emission computed tomograph as aforesaid which requires a shorter time for measurement than the conventional devices.
The invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing.